Gardening
by Irhaboggles
Summary: With Robert and Giselle now married, that leaves Nancy alone once again. She tells herself she doesn't mind, but that's a lie. Robert's rejection hurts far more than she lets on, so she tries to vent via gardening. Her little setup happens to attract the eye of a certain Garden Fairy who just might be able to help Nancy cheer up after all.


Nancy Tremaine worked too hard on the tiny flower box sitting in her apartment window, and it was all in vain attempt to block out the pain she was still feeling from the knowledge that her fiancée had chosen another woman over her. Even though they had all parted on good terms, Nancy was still quite hurt by the breakup and she was doing anything and everything to stop the pain, even if something in that "anything and everything" included aggressive gardening. She was lost in her focus, carefully planting seeds into that little box sitting in the sill. She watered and trimmed what was already there with diligent care, her ex-fiancée and his new wife finally fading away from her mind. But then something came along that totally blew everything else right out of her head.

"Ohhh! Do you like gardening?!" an excited little voice shrieked. Nancy's head shot up at once and then, with a loud shriek, she lunged backward and crashed back into her apartment. There, hovering in midair about six inches above the garden-in-a-box was a tiny human with wings.

"A fairy?!" Nancy shrieked as the little human fluttered in through the window.

"A Garden Fairy!" the little thing corrected, voice sweet, high-pitched, and blessed with an adorable Southern Bell accent.

"A Garden Fairy..." Nancy echoed dumbly. Was she hallucinating? Or had more magical beasts somehow crept out of their world into hers?

"Yeah! Name's Rosetta!" the fairy did a loop-de-loop in the air as she sung her name. "How about you, darlin'?" her voice twanged as she asked.

"I-I-I'm Nancy," Nancy stuttered, still flat on her butt inside her apartment. Rosetta giggled before fluttering in even closer to the stunned woman.

"Ok then Nancy," she said. "Mind if I help you with your garden?" she gestured to the box that was now about six inches behind her.

"Sure," Nancy was unsure of what else to say.

"Yay!" Rosetta clapped her tiny hands and did another loop-de-loop before fluttering back over to the box and balancing easily on its thin edges. Nancy still wasn't sure if what she was seeing was real or not...

But with nothing else to do, Nancy slowly got back onto her feet and walked back over to her little boxed garden. Then, strange as it sounded, she and the little Garden Fairy spent the rest of that warm summer afternoon working together on the tiny garden. It was actually very peaceful, once Nancy managed to sort of get over the fact that she was working with a real live fairy.

Rosetta had been flying out from her home in Pixie Hollow when she had caught sight of Nancy working so diligently on her tiny garden. At first, Rosetta had only intended upon flying closer to silently congratulate the woman for her obvious devotion to plant-care, but then as she flew closer, she saw a very angry look etched upon Nancy's face. She could tell that Nancy had no idea she was scowling, but it did concern Rosetta a little. Who scowled when they gardened? Who could possibly be miserable around flowers? Who would ever get angry at plants? So, against her common sense, Rosetta dared to address the human. She just had to know, who was this woman? Who was this woman that she could be so devoted to gardening, yet look so sad and hurt and angry at the same time? What was she suffering from? And why had she turned to gardening for answers? That was something Rosetta wasn't used to seeing a human do, especially one that lived in a city!

So curiosity got the best of her and Rosetta had made her grand entrance. Heart strangely moved by Nancy's story about a lost lover, Rosetta decided to stay a while, and she called upon several woodland friends of hers from the nearby city park to come and visit.

"I freaking fell like Cinderella," Nancy muttered to herself as birds, bees, squirrels and bugs of all kind came swooping into her apartment. She really hoped Rosetta would be able to send them all away again because she didn't feel like calling pest control. But Rosetta promised that not a single one of them would overstay their welcome, so Nancy forced herself to be content with that.

"Jeez! Who'd have thought!" she muttered to herself again. "Me, Nancy Tremaine, gardening with a fairy and an army of woodland animals to make Snow White jealous!" but with nothing else to do, on she worked, hands in the soil alongside an array of paws and talons and antennas. And of course, Nancy could never forget her friendly southern Garden Fairy companion!

"He just wasn't the right one for you, sugar!" Rosetta consoled as Nancy confessed to her why she had been gardening at all.

"I know," Nancy's shoulders sagged a little, but it did feel good to finally have someone to talk to.

"I'm sure you'll find someone someday!" Rosetta chirped cheerfully. Nancy wanted to protest about this, but she knew that Rosetta would only try to correct her again so she decided to nod in agreement instead. Rosetta's perky little attitude was just too sweet for Nancy to want to ruin. She hummed and chirped words of encouragement to everybody, including Nancy, and slowly, Nancy's frosty heart had warmed up...

As the sun began to fall, the little flower box had become one of the prettiest sights in all of the city. Nancy expressed awe and gratitude for the masterpiece as the little woodland animals all squeaked and chirped their farewells before leaving.

"Well, I'd best be getting' back to Pixie Hollow!" Rosetta said, taking flight in preparation to go.

"Wait!" Nancy cried before Rosetta could get too far. Rosetta turned around and willingly fluttered back into Nancy's outstretched hand.

"What is it, honey?" Rosetta asked. Nancy bit her lip in response, trying to find the words to explain how she felt. She wanted to convey gratitude not just for the little garden party or even for the words of condolence about her ex. She also wanted to thank Rosetta for taking time out of her day to visit her, and then to just be there for her and not push her in one direction or the other about how she should feel.

But when Nancy took too long to formulate an answer, Rosetta only gave her a knowing little smile.

"It was my pleasure, love," she promised. "And iffin you don't mind, I'd quite like to visit you again some time!"

"Oh! I would love that!" Nancy cried, hardly able to believe her luck.

"Wonderful!" Rosetta replied, sounding just as excited. It was much easier to say goodbye after that and Nancy watched Rosetta fly away even after she was long gone out of view...

**AN: Another Idina/Kristin character crossover.**


End file.
